Free Republic

ReutersUpdated: 7:28 a.m. ET Dec. 20, 2005 BETHLEHEM, West Bank - Palestinian gunmen briefly seized Bethlehem city hall, overlooking the Church of the Nativity, on Tuesday in a jarring interruption to Christmas preparations in the traditional birthplace of Jesus.The incident, five days before Christmas, was another sign of growing lawlessness in Palestinian territories and the turmoil within Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah faction ahead of a January parliamentary election.About 20 gunmen from Fatah’s al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades fanned out on rooftops and in the offices of city hall, firing several shots in the air and forcing workers out. They demanded money...

The news from Iraq at this writing features a video of a terrorist murdering a man believed to be a kidnapped American civilian. The victim was trying to help rebuild that country. His cold-blooded execution is a reminder of what our Islamo-fascist enemies have in mind for all of us, non-Islamist Muslims and non-Muslims alike. Perhaps the murder was committed by putting a bullet in our countryman's head, rather than removing it, in deference to the recently disclosed injunction from an al-Qaida leader to one of his franchisees in Iraq that beheadings have proven counterproductive to the cause.

An Algerian with suspected links to al-Qaida was today jailed for six years for downloading instructions on how to blow up an aircraft with a bomb. The 27-year-old man, sentenced at Belfast crown court, was found guilty of possessing and collecting information connected with terrorism. Authorities have admitted they are unsure exactly who he is. During his six-week trial, he appeared in court under the name Abbas Boutrab. He has used at least seven aliases since his first known arrest for stealing a bag in Paris 13 years ago. Detectives in Northern Ireland, the British security services and the FBI...

A lawyer defending al Qaida-linked suspects standing trial for the 2003 suicide bombings in Istanbul told a court that jihad, or holy war, was an obligation for Muslims and his clients should not be prosecuted. "If you punish them for this, tomorrow, will you punish them for fasting or for praying?" Osman Karahan -- a lawyer representing 14 of the 72 suspects -- asked during a nearly four-hour speech in which he read religious texts from an encyclopedia of Islam. The November 2003 blasts targeted two synagogues, the British Consulate and the local headquarters of the London-based HSBC bank, killing...